A pilot approaching see reported taking evasive action to avoid an aircraft that had just taken off ...

Narrative:

We had been on an IFR flight plan and were on the GPS 17 approach to see. We had picked up ATIS information which showed rather strong winds from 180-240; sky clear; 8 miles visibility; runway 27 right and left in use. The weather was old; and we anticipated that the winds would have necessitated switching to runway 17; but when we were turned over to the tower; we discovered that 27R and 27L were still in use. Consequently; we canceled IFR with tower so that we could enter downwind for the nearest runway in use (runway 27R). This is not usually a risky maneuver sine the GPS 17 drops the airplane in a good enough position so that one can enter at a 45 degree angle for downwind. We had been radar identified by see and told to report tomty. There were two pilots on board; and we always fly as a crew; with the non-flying pilot assuming radio and navigation responsibilities; and both pilots checking for traffic. We have tis (traffic information system) on board. After we had canceled IFR but while we were still outside tomty and well above pattern altitude; we heard tower release an airplane on 27R for takeoff (we did not hear the direction of departure.) we scoured the runway for the airplane's takeoff; but it was muggy; and/or the angle was just wrong; so we couldn't find it. Tis picked it up as it was turning downwind; and it sure felt like there was going to be a conflict; so we leveled off at 2;100 ft and slowed down to let it get in front of us. We reported tomty and the tower called the traffic; telling us is was an easterly departure. At this point tis showed it at 1 o'clock and 1;200 ft. We still didn't have the traffic in sight; and we started entering a wider downwind in order to let it pass inside us. We were still at 2;100 ft and turning into a wide downwind when the tis called a traffic alert; and it passed right under our nose and off to our left; climbing rapidly and moving diagonally. There was no communication from tower during the near miss; and they seemed unaware that there had been such a close call when we called 'traffic in sight' and let them know 'that was too close.' there was no acknowledgment from the other aircraft regarding the near miss. We have tried hard to debrief this. We simply do not know whether we would have collided with the other airplane if we had descended and entered downwind normally at pattern altitude or if we had not started our higher turn to downwind early. Even if we had flown the approach as normal and circled over the field to enter 27 left; we would have crossed paths with the quickly climbing aircraft. In every scenario we imagine; with the exception of turning totally away from the field prior to reaching tomty; there is certainly a potential for disaster. From our end; the next time this happens; we will query tower as soon as we feel there is a conflict; tell them we are uncomfortable and take more aggressive evasive maneuvers. We feel strongly though that no matter what we had done; separation would not have been adequate; and the aircraft should not have been released when it was. This was a near miss that we and the gillespie tower need to analyze carefully. We; the departing aircraft; and the controller were extremely lucky; and this is an experience we all need to learn from.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A pilot approaching SEE reported taking evasive action to avoid an aircraft that had just taken off on a downwind departure. ATC did not issue updated current traffic alerts.

Narrative: We had been on an IFR flight plan and were on the GPS 17 approach to SEE. We had picked up ATIS information which showed rather strong winds from 180-240; sky clear; 8 miles visibility; Runway 27 right and left in use. The weather was old; and we anticipated that the winds would have necessitated switching to Runway 17; but when we were turned over to the Tower; we discovered that 27R and 27L were still in use. Consequently; we canceled IFR with Tower so that we could enter downwind for the nearest runway in use (Runway 27R). This is not usually a risky maneuver sine the GPS 17 drops the airplane in a good enough position so that one can enter at a 45 degree angle for downwind. We had been radar identified by SEE and told to report TOMTY. There were two pilots on board; and we always fly as a crew; with the non-flying pilot assuming radio and navigation responsibilities; and both pilots checking for traffic. We have TIS (traffic information system) on board. After we had canceled IFR but while we were still outside TOMTY and well above pattern altitude; we heard Tower release an airplane on 27R for takeoff (we did not hear the direction of departure.) We scoured the runway for the airplane's takeoff; but it was muggy; and/or the angle was just wrong; so we couldn't find it. TIS picked it up as it was turning downwind; and it sure felt like there was going to be a conflict; so we leveled off at 2;100 FT and slowed down to let it get in front of us. We reported TOMTY and the Tower called the traffic; telling us is was an easterly departure. At this point TIS showed it at 1 o'clock and 1;200 FT. We still didn't have the traffic in sight; and we started entering a wider downwind in order to let it pass inside us. We were still at 2;100 FT and turning into a wide downwind when the TIS called a traffic alert; and it passed right under our nose and off to our left; climbing rapidly and moving diagonally. There was no communication from Tower during the near miss; and they seemed unaware that there had been such a close call when we called 'traffic in sight' and let them know 'that was too close.' There was no acknowledgment from the other aircraft regarding the near miss. We have tried hard to debrief this. We simply do not know whether we would have collided with the other airplane if we had descended and entered downwind normally at pattern altitude or if we had not started our higher turn to downwind early. Even if we had flown the approach as normal and circled over the field to enter 27 Left; we would have crossed paths with the quickly climbing aircraft. In every scenario we imagine; with the exception of turning totally away from the field prior to reaching TOMTY; there is certainly a potential for disaster. From our end; the next time this happens; we will query Tower as soon as we feel there is a conflict; tell them we are uncomfortable and take more aggressive evasive maneuvers. We feel strongly though that no matter what we had done; separation would not have been adequate; and the aircraft should not have been released when it was. This was a near miss that we and the Gillespie Tower need to analyze carefully. We; the departing aircraft; and the Controller were extremely lucky; and this is an experience we all need to learn from.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	882221
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	SEE.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-32 Cherokee Six/Lance/Saratoga/6X
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 5 Flight Crew Total 868 Flight Crew Type 850
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict
Miss Distance	Horizontal 500 Vertical 300

A pilot approaching see reported taking evasive action to avoid an aircraft that had just taken off on a downwind departure. ATC did not issue updated current traffic alerts.